


Stick and poke

by Eloqxence



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Dumbass sets friends tattoo and friend passes out, Gen, idk - Freeform, there are needles in this btw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-17
Updated: 2018-02-17
Packaged: 2019-03-20 11:10:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13716444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eloqxence/pseuds/Eloqxence
Summary: Michael comes to school with a Pacman tattoo and Jeremy agrees that he wants one as well, and boy did he make a mistake.





	Stick and poke

**Author's Note:**

> I do not know what American bathrooms look like
> 
> Also this was a gift for gelasticat on tumblr! You should definitely check out their art is hella cute!

This morning Michael had been acting a bit weird, purposely hiding his arms under his sweater and it ended up making Jeremy very curious to see what was under there, so when it was break time he had followed Michael to bathroom on the third floor. These bathrooms were always quiet, because 2 of them had non-functioning  
lights in the stalls, 2 of the 3 sinks refused to operate and when you turned them on steaming hot water came out of the faucet. Though many people complained, it never got fixed which resulted in the bathroom becoming abandoned and changing into the new favourite hangout spot for Jeremy and Michael. Michael signals for Jeremy to come closer and he eagerly does, ready to see what he has been hiding the entire time.

“Okay, you know I had been telling you about how I wanted to get a tattoo?”

Jeremyas eyes widen and Michaels begin to sparkle as he nods happily, despite Jeremy not even having asked the question yet. He rolls up his sleeves and shows a thin tattoo of pacman. Jeremy reaches out to trace the lines, and Michael lets him.

“Did your parents pay for it?” He finally asks.

“They kind of did, they paid for the needles.” Michael says with a proud smirk on his face. “Stick and poke tattoo! Did it myself.”

“Wait you did it yourself?”

Michael nods proudly and grabs his phone. He quickly unlocks it and goes to his gallery to show him some process pictures. It starts with him burning the needle and he explains that itas to make sure to sterilize it. Next up there's the dipping in ink and then the poking and then the result. It looks like it's very quick and like itas not painful at all. The skin around the tattoo is a little red and it seems a bit irritated like it would when you fall and scrape your knee, but that's really it.

“It didn't even hurt one bit! Itas only a little swollen, but that's because you still basically give yourself a small injury.” Michael continues. “I could set one for you too if you want. I remember you saying you really wanted one as well, right?”

Jeremy briefly turns pale. Itʼs true, he had always wanted a matching tattoo with Michael because it seemed like an amazing thing to do, but now that the idea is staring right at him itʼs suddenly a lot scarier. What if itʼll hurt? What if his parents disown him?? What if Michael somehow misses and penetrates his arm and heʼll bleed to death?! No wait that’s impossible, itʼs a little sewing needle that he used that canʼt possibly kill him! Besides, Michael already said it wouldnʼt hurt, and as long as he just wears his cardigan his parents donʼt have to find out at all, right?

“Yeah sure! How about after school? Then when weʼre done we can play some actual Pacman.”

“Deal! Now letʼs eat our lunch.”

-

Jeremyʼs really starting to regret the decision now. All day long during every class all he could think about was how it would hurt and how permanent it would be. If his parents were to ever find out theyʼd probably get really angry. Still he doesnʼt tell Michael, because he knows that deep down he wants this and that when he has the tattoo these worries will disappear again. He just has to get through it, just 1 more hour until heʼll get the tattoo. He wonders if heʼll cry. He never sees people cry on TV when they get theirs done in those TV shows, but those people usually have more than 1 so maybe theyʼre used to the pain. Besides, itʼs just a small tattoo on his forearm, how much can that hurt him? It would only get red and swell up, thatʼs what Michael said.

-

He walks home with Michael in silence. Not because heʼs uncomfortable and scared, but because Michael was tired and asked for it. He glances over at him, who is obviously very calm. His white headphones are on his ears, but he knows the music is playing softer than it usually is so that if Jeremy did want to talk, he could. Theyʼre no strangers to walking home like this. School is draining so Michael recharges and it often gives Jeremy time to think and get calmer too. He takes his earbuds out and puts one in and begins to blast some calm song. He doesnʼt remember the artist and there isnʼt much singing in it anyway. He lets the tunes go and allows himself to get lost and calm down, just listen to the rhythm and ignore his fast beating heart. Take a breath in, and let it out. Michael knows Jeremy has a low tolerance for pain and wouldnʼt sign him up for something like this if it would hurt him.

He notices Michaelʼs front door approaching. It seems like theyʼll be home alone, so they donʼt bother taking off their shoes as they rush to the basement. Michael pulls off his headphones and puts them away before grabbing some things out of a little cabinet. When he turns around to face him Jeremy can see needles, a cloth, a razor, a pen, a bottle of alcohol, a lighter and some big jar of ink. Michael puts them down on a little table before handing Jeremy a bucket. When he sees Jeremyʼs confused expression he quickly goes on to explain.

“Some people vomit because of the pain.” He says, like itʼs no big deal.

He puts Jeremy down on a chair and grabs a beanbag for himself to sit on.

“Where do you want the tattoo?”

“Left arm?”

“Alright!”

Michael gently takes his arm and shaves away the hairs before grabbing a cloth and putting alcohol on it. He cleans the shaved area and begins drawing out the design with the pen, the gentle touches tickle and Jeremy has to try not to twitch his arm while Michael draws the pattern. When he finishes it, he lets go of his arm so Jeremy can judge for himself. He pulls his arm back to look at it for himself. The design looks pretty, it matches Michaelʼs exactly so that if they were to fist bump their pacmans would be facing each other. He looks up at Michael and nods, giving him consent to continue tattooing.

Michael smiles slightly as he reaches for a needle and briefly holds it in a flame. Then he grabs an old pencil thatʼs laying on the floor and sticks the needle into it before holding it in the flame again. Next, he uses the cloth again to clean a small bowl and pours some ink in it. As he dips the needle Jeremy prepares for the pain, unconsciously tensed up and so when Michael poked him right in a muscle he let out a shriek and pulled away when Michael quickly pulled the needle back.

“Relax Jer! Itʼll only hurt more if youʼre tense. Have you gotten vaccines? They always tell you to be calm and relax, right? This is why.” Michael whispered softly, trying his best to sound soothing and calm.

“Y-Yeah! Iʼll be calm.” Jeremy smiles at him and relaxes.

Michael dips the needle in the ink again and carefully pokes him again, once again it hurts just as much as it did before but Jeremy barely flinches this time, or thatʼs what he wants to believe but Michael acts like he doesnʼt notice Jeremyʼs arm slipping right out of his hand. He gently takes hold of it again and continues his ritual of poking and dipping in ink while Jeremy letʼs out soft squeals in pain.

“Itʼs on a muscle, donʼt worry the rest will hurt less.” Michael mutters as he continues tracing the pattern on his arm.

Jeremy just quietly nods, afraid that if he opens his mouth heʼll vomit or begin to cry. He prays it doesnʼt take long for Michael to keep tattooing on the muscle so itʼll hurt less, but even when he is halfway done it still hurts just as much and Jeremy is getting a little light headed. Michael seems to notice this and once again stops tattooing, giving him some time to get to his senses. Jeremy letʼs out a shaky breath and suddenly he feels a burning feeling creeping up through his throat. He quickly holds up the bucket and vomits into it.

When he is done vomiting he feels slightly better and holds out his arm again. He can see that Michael is doubting it but he still he continues the tattooing.

“Just stab me…” Jeremy mutters.

“You sure you really donʼt want me to stop?” Michael asks

“Just continue, weʼre almost done anyway.”

Michael was indeed nearing the end of his tattoo, and so he continued poking him with the needle. Jeremy tried to take deep breaths but the more he got poked the faster it became. Soon he began to experience black spots in his sight and his ears began to ring slightly. His nausea began to increase and he threw up again, however, he didnʼt move his arm so Michael continued. When Michael finished and let go Jeremy put the bucket away with shaking hands before collapsing to the floor.

-

When he woke up he was still in the basement, but Michael was gone. He didnʼt remember why he was in the basement though and felt very confused. He slowly tried to get up but was interrupted by Michael coming downstairs with his mother, who gently pushed him back down.

“Stay down, if you get up too fast you may faint again!” She said.

Jeremy nodded and watched Michael who grabbed a cloth, maybe to hold against his forehead? It was throbbing slightly so that would make sense. When Michael came back he gently grabbed Jeremyʼs arm and began to rub it gently with the cloth, which resulted in Jeremy flinching because of a sudden sharp pain. Slowly he realised again what happened: Michael had given him a tattoo and he fainted. He had fainted thanks to the pain and now he was on the floor in his basement and his best friendʼs mother was making sure he wasnʼt going to die. Wait, is that even possible to die from fainting? Probably, Jeremy wasnʼt so sure though.

“Do you remember why you are here?” Michaelʼs mum asked.

“Y-Yeah! Michael was setting a tattoo and I fainted.” Jeremy replied.

“Great! Sometimes forgetting what happened prior to fainting can happen when you do faint, so itʼs good you remember. Youʼll probably feel weak and confused for 20 minutes and Iʼd suggest drinking some water, but you woke up within 20 seconds so itʼs nothing to worry about.” She got up again and smiled. “But maybe donʼt let Michael set another one of your tattooʼs, alright Jeremy?”

Michael and Jeremy look at each other in silence for a bit and Michael is the first one to break it with a laugh, which is followed by Jeremyʼs laughter mixing in before he turns back to Michaelʼs mother and nods.

“Iʼll be more careful next time.”


End file.
